Courtesy photo
Brenda Davis (front center), one of the state’s leading end hunger advocates, and her grandson, Zack, are welcomed to York, one of ten communities that the Maine Credit Unions’ Ending Hunger Walking Tour visited while in York County the week of November 5. Pictured with her at York County Federal Credit Union’s York branch are (l-r) Kayla Belanger, Tim Roy, Kathryn Keith and Rich Goodenough.

YORK – On November 5, the 11th Annual Maine Credit Unions’ Ending Hunger Walking Tour began its visit to York County, where it will make stops in ten communities. Every stop included a contribution to a local food pantry. Brenda Davis, one of the state’s leading ending hunger advocates, has been partnering with Maine’s credit unions to coordinate the Ending Hunger Walking Tour for the past eleven years.

The purpose of the Walk is to raise awareness and distribute some of the statewide funds raised by the Maine Credit Unions’ Campaign for Ending Hunger. In 2011, the Maine Credit Unions’ Campaign for Ending Hunger raised a record-setting $447,000 and has raised more than $4.3 million since 1990.

The York County communities the Tour is visiting include: Arundel, Biddeford, Buxton, Kennebunk, Saco, Sanford, Waterboro and Wells. Checks for $111 each (commemorative of this being the Tour’s 11th year), were presented at each stop. Each check purchases approximately $1,500 in food through the Good Shepherd Food Bank.

Food pantries in York County receiving contributions include (listed alphabetically by town): Arundel Food Pantry in Arundel; Bon Appetit Meal Program in Biddeford; Buxton Community Cupboard in Buxton; West Kennebunk United Methodist Church Food Pantry in Kennebunk; Footprints Food Pantry in Kittery; Saco Food Pantry in Saco; York County Food Rescue Program in Sanford; Food for Life – St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Waterboro; St. Mary’s Ecumenical Food Pantry in Wells; and York Community Food Pantry in York.

This year’s Tour will be visiting the most communities, and covering the most miles in its history. The Walk is expected to encompass more than 1,500 miles, with approximately 750 of that on foot, and visit a record-setting 77 communities from Kittery to Madawaska. The Tour will visit every Maine county for the seventh consecutive year. In addition to contributing funds to Davis’ food pantry, which is one of the largest in Eastern Maine, the Maine Credit Unions’ Campaign for Ending Hunger will contribute to a food pantry in each of the 77 communities that the Tour visits.

The Walk, which began on October 26th at Maine State Credit Union in Augusta, concludes with a ceremony at Changing Seasons Federal Credit Union in Hampden on Friday, November 30.